The next version of Windows will come with Microsoft Security Essentials built in.
Expected to be released during the third quarter of 2012, Windows 8 will come bundled with functionality from Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE). A preview was released on Tuesday to developers during the BUILD conference in Anaheim, California.
The free ant-virus product was launched in September 2009, and Microsoft said in a statement that investments made in Windows 8 security gave it "great confidence that Windows 8 will be the most secure operating system we've produced".
Windows 8 will also include security enhancements such as ‘engineering system changes' to find and protect against system flaws, and a capability known as Secured Boot to help protect against malware-infected USB drives and other threats.
Earlier this year, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Windows 8 would be released in 2012, although this was swiftly denied by a Microsoft spokesperson, who claimed it had yet to formally announce any timing or naming for the next version of Windows.